


Drag Me Down

by Pence



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Drowning, M/M, Siren, Vague (very vague) dubious consent, Vague WWII setting/time period, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2018-07-29 13:00:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7685566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pence/pseuds/Pence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was the kisses that trailed over his cheeks, eyelids, and nose before pressing hungrily to his own mouth. It was the intoxicating pain of the doorjamb digging into his back as he allowed himself to be consumed. It was the blood on his tongue as feral canines nicked tauntingly against his frozen lips.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part I

Burning became all he had ever known as he woke for the first time in the depths of the ocean. 

The dark waters may have blinded him—the snarling jaws of the sinking ship’s pressure dragging him deeper, pulling at his uniform with piercing cold talons—but he could still feel the immense heat on his face from the explosion. Alarm bells continued to ring in his ears. 

A silent scream tore through the dying soldier as his muscles sang a matching tune, sluggish arms trying to pull against the current continuing to carry him down, down, down. The ocean screamed back the moment he’d opened his mouth. Water burned sharply as it tore down his throat and pressed further around him, drawing tears that lost themselves to sea. 

Jack knew that around him sank the rest of the comrades—all because no one was fast enough to notice the ‘bloop’ on the radar before it was too late. 

\--- 

_“She’s going to be three come April,” Santos laughed as he pressed the crinkled photograph into the other soldier’s hands. The sound of crashing waves was lost this deep into the ship--the barrack’s darkened without natural light. Lanterns hung in uneven patterns around the bunks, their swaying lights cast shadows across the group of men._

_The room smelled of oil, sweat, and cheap cigarettes as the sailors settled to the floor and the deft-fingered Cho dealt cards to the waiting men. A smuggled bottle of whiskey was passed generously around as the game began—Jack declining with a polite wave as he chose instead to inspect the photograph._

_Many men carried mementos on their person while serving on the ship. Strasburg had not one, but two portraits of his lovers tucked to his breast while he worked. He’d winked at a scandalized Jack, stating “We’re at war, Johnny-Boy. Prime of our lives. Gotta live and love to the fullest.”_

_Jack did not carry a badge of home or any crumpled photos of love in his pockets._

_“Her name is Alejandra, yeah?” He asked, as he took in the picture of the child and inspected it under a waving light. Curly, dark hair like her father pulled into a ribbon—button nosed and impatient, given the blur of a kid who wouldn’t sit still. “She looks just like you.”_

_“Lord help her,” Called Johnson from his nearby bunk, raising the bottle in a toast to the faux-outraged Santos. Jack laughed with the rest of his comrades, his friends, as the two men grappled harmlessly._

\--- 

He felt heavier as his muscles began to numb and the piercing cold was lost to his senses. The calm that began to overtake his mind felt intrusive as it forced away his panic, lulling him to return back to unconsciousness. 

His muscles, frozen as they were, began to still in their struggle. Darkness bled further into the corners of his vision. 

Jack had never feared death. The idea of dying as a soldier serving his country was one that had often filled him pride in his youth. Memorials, military parades, songs of brave men painted legacies that he wanted to meet, to match, to exceed. 

But those were the dreams of a boy who did not know death as intimately as they tangled now. That was a boy who had only known seas of golden corn and the ring of the porch bell calling dinner. 

The ocean became the man’s new sweetheart as it cradled him in its depths. /Strong arms./ 

Became the memento at his breast. /Warm chest./ 

Kissed the last breath from his drowned lungs. /Soft lips./ 

\--- 

_Indiana summer burned hot against his sun-kissed neck as Jack shouldered his dufflebag. His dogtags jingled with every step he took towards the farmhouse, tucked out of sight beneath his shirt. Apprehension swelled in his stomach as he slowed, toeing the bottom step of the paint, sun-worn porch._

_He’d been… jumpy, for lack of better words, since docking in boisterous New York. He’d laughed as Cho kissed the filthy ground shamelessly and shaken Alejandra’s tiny hand as Santos held his crying wife. He’d sat on a street curb and shared a beer with Johnson while watching crowds cheer and dance in the streets._

_The war was over. They had **won**. _

_It just didn’t /feel/ over._

_He knew he’d boarded a plane and taken a Greyhound out of Chicago out into the farmlands of Indiana—but he couldn’t pinpoint anything specific. Memories came as a haze in his mind, trimmed with a familiar darkness. He might have pinched himself to check if he were dreaming were the sun not beating down upon him, edging him forward toward the porch’s blessed shade._

_Pulling open the screen door, Jack stepped gingerly inside and unlaced his boots, listening to the distinct sounds of movement in the kitchen. Below the clink and clatter of a bowl being stirred came a low, soft hum; a song he’d never heard before but seemed distinctly familiar. He felt his heart ache as he shut the door with an audible click, letting his dufflebag clatter loudly next to his boots. The stirring and humming came to a mirrored pause._

_His feet carried him unconsciously towards the kitchen, unbidden tears threatening the rims of his eyelids and a large knot forming in the back of his throat. Whatever pride he had was shattered when, upon rounding the corner, he was greeted with dark arms, a strong chest, and soft lips pressing into his temple._

_“Welcome home, cariño”_

_Home. It wasn’t the childhood bedroom sitting unchanged down the hall or the smell of his mother’s blackberry cobbler in the oven._

_It was the kisses that trailed over his cheeks, eyelids, and nose before pressing hungrily to his own mouth. It was the intoxicating pain of the doorjamb digging into his back as he allowed himself to be consumed. It was the blood on his tongue as feral canines nicked tauntingly against his frozen lips._

\--- 

Jack gasped as he woke for the second time, water surrounding him once more. He choked violently, thrashing against an impossible heat that spread around him, mind buzzing frantically in his panic. Powerful hands were grabbing at his wrist, attempting to pull him back to the strong arms from his dream. 

He wanted to scream as sharp nails pricked dangerously against the veins of his wrists and monstrous teeth glinted from the smile of the creature. Primal fear burned through his veins as he was toyed with and pulled effortlessly back against the broad, familiar chest. 

Bubbles escaped Jack’s mouth as he yelled silently into the uncaring waters, trembling under the dark, inhuman gaze of the predator. His wrists were released shortly before the hands cupped his frozen cheeks, the pad of a clawed thumb tracing his numb lips. 

If the thought of why he hadn’t yet drowned had ever crossed his racing mind, the answer came in the form of a familiar mouth pressing once again to his own. 

Blessed oxygen filled his lungs, magicking away whatever seawater had been churning down his raw throat. A surprised gasp from the soldier invited a long tongue past his lips, curling hotly around his own as it explored the caverns of his mouth. 

Jack’s arms encircled the other’s neck, clinging to the life-saving heat of the creature as he returned the kiss hungrily, thoughtlessly. His fingers curled into soft curls as he drank life back into his body, warmth spreading through his stiff muscles from the tips of his fingers to the curl of his toes. His oxygen starved brain began to relax as a hand smoothed down his uniform’s side before curling around his waist to pull his body flush against the other’s. 

Jack turned his face away from the kiss, gasping heavily as his lungs continued to work overtime. He could still feel water encroaching against his parted, warmed lips but not daring flood inside. Whatever the creature had done was sustaining his breathing in the frigid depths, at least temporarily. 

A mouth replaced itself against the crook of his neck as the soldier regained his bearings, fingers relaxing from their grip in the other’s hair. He felt sluggish and drunk as gentle kisses followed the curve of his jaw. As soft bites from monstrously sharp teeth teased the soft flesh above his racing pulse, the low baritone rumble of the creature’s laughter sent jolts through the human man. 

Jack’s fingers followed the curve of the other’s strong shoulders, trying to paint an image of what had saved him. He could see little more than occasional glints and shadows this far from the sun-- the largest of which seemed pleased at the blond’s daring touch if another rumbling chuckle could be interpreted as such. 

His hand brushed over delicate gills at the creature’s throat, a small shutter fluttering against the pads of his fingers. Soft skin transitioned into course, cold scales in random patches down a bare chest and arms. The patches continued down a tapered waist and strong hipbones, before Jack’s hands painted over silky fins into an endless sea of scales. 

The eloquent and long tail pressed between Jack’s thighs, strong hands gripping the soldier’s bottom shamelessly and forcing his legs to curl around the creature’s waist. 

They had drifted upward in their tangle and from his perch in the creature’s large arms, he could see more definition in its face. A strong jaw framed the predator’s smirking, plump lips. Handsome dimples pressed into tanned flesh below defined cheekbones, similarly traced with the dark, pale scales of the tail rutting against his tightening pants. 

It was the creature’s eyes that stole his sole attention, both stilling in their ministrations during the competing stare. It was like staring into the hungry, blown out pupils of a shark. Faint traces of a chestnut brown pulsated on the edges of the black pools, the white of his eyes lost beneath hooded lids. Jack should have been terrified—and he probably was beneath the hypnotizing allure of the creature. 

A stuttered gasp was stolen from Jack as he was pulled down into another kiss, gentler than the starved tangle they’d been moments before. The lullaby he’d heard in his dream rumbled against his lips, coaxing him to relax into the creature’s cradling embrace. His head swam drunkenly and it was becoming increasingly difficult to focus on little more than the song coursing like blood through his veins. 

Eyes rolling into the back of his head, Jack lost himself to sleep once more as sharp nails dug sweetly into the small of his back. 


	2. Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I prefer the old monstrous tales that you humans spin. Mischievous demi-gods plucking sailors into the sea. Enticing them to the water’s edge with songs of home and love only to greet them with razor teeth set in wicked smiles.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. I'm actually going to expand this beyond a two part story. I'm a shit planner.  
> Please be patient with me! )':  
> \--  
> my tumblr is penxe.tumblr.com

_A light drizzle pattered against the flower painted windows, streaks of neon light streaking down the glass from the flashing sign above. The diner was an inviting warmth against the nighttime chill of New York City, the streets blessedly quiet as travelers rushed home and out of the brewing storm._

_Jack still wasn’t used to the city, having grown up in a little, Podunk town in Indiana –population 3076. It was world-rocking to become no-one in a faceless sea and have his ‘Good Mornings’ returned with bewildered indifference._

_He only had to endure for another two days until his ship embarked. He should be savoring his time on solid ground but he was looking forward to the familiar comradery of his crewmates._

_The welcoming smile of a waitress stirred pleasantly in his gut. The bell jingled behind him as the door closed, sealing away the cold wind that had tried following in his wake. He knew he’d seen her before as he pulled off his jacket, feet moving automatically as he made his way further into the empty diner. He remembers finding the dark blue of her eyes alluring and her soft, accented voice charming._

_But he’d never been in this diner, as far as he could remember, despite the familiarity of the soft peeling wallpaper and the light layers of grease that seemed to coat the floor beneath his boots. Even at this time of night, the smell of fatty bacon and fried eggs hung in the air._

_Jack wanted to sit at the counter and talk with the waitress. She was an extremely pleasant and sharp girl with an accent that made him think of home. He remembered her delight when he offered the woman his version of stuttering, broken German and she’d laughed sweetly over her own late night cup of coffee._

_They’d talked well into the night and he’d walked her to her bus stop near dawn when she was relieved of her shift._

_But… how…_

_“She’s pretty.”_

_Turning sharply away from the waitress, he met a dark gaze he knew on instinct. The blond soldier’s eyes widened as he gaped at the dark-skinned man sitting alone in the back booth, nursing a cup of coffee between his hands above an abandoned newspaper. The man was entirely human sitting there in that small diner—blunt teeth, smooth warm skin, dry and dark hair that curled against his temple. But the predatory hunger was still there in those blown-out pupils that affixed themselves on the blonde man._

_“You… you’re… This isn’t real.”_

_“Sure it is,” The man murmured dismissively as he brought the cup to his lips, continuing to stare Jack down over the brim of the mug. He nodded toward the bench across from him, amusement pulling at the quirk of his lips as he watched the human man struggling with what to do. “Sit.”_

_It felt like a command and Jack could feel his shoulders squaring as if his commanding officer were standing over his shoulder, screaming spit-slicked snarls into his ear. Chancing a short glance back to the woman, Angela, who was busying herself with wiping off the counters, he slipped into the booth across from the… the…_

_“What are you?” He asked softly, nearly jumping out of his skin as a knee brushed his own beneath the table. A solid leg settled between his own and pressed against his inner thighs-- playful, offering. Jack pressed his lips together and squeezed his knees together. He wanted answers, not to be fucked around with._

_A smile grew on the larger man’s face in the response to Jack’s stubborn glare and he relented, leaning back as he met the other’s gaze. “My name is Gabriel or at least that’s my human name.”_

_“What **are** you, Gabriel?” _

_“I think my friends would call be Gabe. I’m glad I don’t have friends. It’s a rather ugly na—“_

_The two moved in impressively matched speeds. The hunting knife tucked into Jack’s boot was ripped quickly from its holster by deft fingers as the blond man moved to lunge across the table. His momentum was thrown off by a heavy heel slamming into his gut and shoving him harshly back into the seat, knocking the air from his lungs._

_Black bled into the corner of his eyes as the drizzle outside turned into a storm._

\-- 

Icy waters bit around him once more, dancing around the edges of the creature’s impressive heat like sharks scenting blood. A heavy weight was pressed flush behind him, large arms keeping him from drifting away in the ocean’s currents. A hot mouth and teeth were needling the life-vein at his throat as he was rocked helplessly by death in the deep, inky depths. 

“Gabriel…” 

The siren chuckled affectionately, low, growling, as the blond man drifted back into slumber, head setting back into the crook of Gabriel’s neck. 

\-- 

_He registered the clink and clacks of cutlery as he came back to himself, slouched halfway down in the booth. The rain continued to pound heavily against the windows, muffling the radio broadcast emanating from the kitchen as the station signed off for the night. Heavy legs were once against tangled with his own, calves curled around each other in mock embrace._

_He could feel the blade holstered in his boot once more and pain blooming in his abdomen as he pushed himself back up into his seat. For the briefest of moments, as his head surfaced above the table and the other man came back into view, the world was nothing but smoke and blurs. In the blink of an eye, however, the comfortably shabby diner was back once more and the other man was cutting into a plate of the most picturesque flapjacks the soldier had ever seen._

_However long he’d been out, the instinct to fight had settled…_

_“You’re a mermaid?” He tried asking again, as the other man speared the fluffy pastry and popped it into his mouth, a contemplative look on his face. His dark eyes, transfixed on the food, looked back to Jack._

_“I’m not a mermaid. I’m no ship ornament,” He hummed in mock offense, lips quirking at the skeptical look crossing Jack’s expression. “I prefer the old monstrous tales that you humans spin. Mischievous demi-gods plucking sailors into the sea. Enticing them to the water’s edge with songs of home and love only to greet them with razor teeth set in wicked smiles.”_

_“So is that what you’re doing right now? Eating me?” Jack asked bravely, despite the cool sweat of fear he could feel beading at his temple. Gabriel had given up the pretense that this was anything but a vision and was now cutting into a country-fried steak._

_“Oh no. I don’t want to eat you yet. I mean, **I will** of course. Your life is forfeit this deep in the ocean and your ship’s already rotting at its bed. But I plan to savor this as long as I can,” He hummed as his fork sawed gently through the tip of his mother’s cherry pie. _

_The sudden urge to hurl the contents of his empty stomach came over Jack as the storm reached its peak outside. There was nothing pleasant in knowing he’d die either at the mercy of this creature or the unforgiving cold of the ocean. And he knew, either way, he was destined to lie with the pie, the steak, the flapjacks at the bottom of this… thing’s stomach once he’d became useless. But…_

_“What do you mean savor? How do I play into this? Why aren’t I de—“_

_“You’re beautiful.”_

_The soldier tensed, staring at the man sitting across from him with such incredulity that a (charming) chuckle shook Gabriel’s shoulders. Jack could feel the siren’s legs moving between his own and fought down a blush as a knee grazed his inner thigh once more. “The ocean is a cold and lonely place, Jack,” He said, so softly that he nearly purred through the pattering rain on the window beside them._

_Leaning forward, Gabriel nearly made the man jump out of his skin as a hand was placed upon his knee. “If I must be condemned to this life then I’ll experience all I can in the only way I can,” He murmured as wicked fingers danced up the fluttering muscles of Jack’s thigh, an equally wicked smile grows in response to the red flush of Jack’s cheeks._

_Jack wanted to ask what he meant by ‘condemned’ but found it difficult to find words as large fingers curled into the fabric of his pants._

_“You lived a sweet life, Jack Morrison. You’re a good person,” The siren praised as he all but passed through the table as easily as smoke to give himself more control over the flustered human man. Jack sucked in a breath as large thighs affixed themselves on either side of his lap and Gabriel’s groin brushed tantalizingly close to his own._

_“I want to consume every morsel of you. I want to see and feel everything you’ve ever experienced,” He whispered between them. Wide blue eyes stared into blown-out black as the world shifted around them once more. In a swirl of black and gray, he found himself still being straddled, albeit now in the bed of a pickup he’d sold shortly before joining the navy._

_The pouring rain was replaced by the soft, gentle song of crickets in the cornfields that surrounded them. From this deeply into the field, Jack could just make out the top of the silo and the smoke of the farmhouse’s fireplace as it battled away the Autumn night’s chill. It was a brilliant starry night and the fullmoon emphasized the sharp cheekbones of the siren’s face and the shallow scars set into his cheeks, nose_

_The blond man gasped as a hot mouth pressed to his own, his previously dead limbs scrambling for purchase before grasping onto thick hipbones. If arousal had been stirring before, it hit him like a wave when his clothed dick was ground against—nearly biting off the foreign, human tongue that passed between his lips. The siren laughed._

_The kisses were powerful and loving, but that didn’t stop sadness from coiling around his gut. Jack turned his face away, lips wet and panting. The other man continued on, kissing along his cheekbone and nibbling at his ear._

_“I don’t want to die,” He whispered, feeling the other man still momentarily._

_The siren hummed sadly and wrapped large arms around him._

_A gentle kiss as pressed to the pulse above his neck. Soft sad words were whispered against his skin as Jack stared out at the sea of corn and endless sky._

_“No one does, Jack.”_

_“Save me then.”_

_“You’re mine.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \--  
> my tumblr is penxe.tumblr.com


	3. Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That urge cowered against the tendrils licking effortlessly at his heels—at the mirrored footfalls echoing after his own—at the claws grabbing playfully into the drenched fabric of his uniform. He was drowning now, choking on what little air he could take into his lungs as he gasped. Darkness strangled the light as he ran deeper into the braided, inhuman sea.

_Morning chill bit sharply at Jack’s cheeks as he ran, heart and feet pounding in synchronized, dark melody. The soil beneath his boots was frozen and growled with every scrape of his heel; crunching, gnawing, snapping. Any sense of direction was lost as he raced through the field, corn whipping sharply at his features and dodging from his path with the swipe of an arm. The night sky had shifted to foggy gray; the call of brewing storms, of precaution._

_He knew these fields intimately. These were the same fields he ran as a kid—hiding in the stalks from his father and brothers for those few precious moments away from chores. Laid in the tilled soil with first love on warm, summer evenings. Walked every row countless times._

_There should have been a sign of home closing in above the tips of the shuddering corn. Instead, the stalks grew impossibly taller, imposing as he stumbled beneath their canopy._

_His lungs burned with every pull he gasped greedily, begging him to stop and rest. To lay down this need to escape…. To escape…_

_Fuck… He didn’t know. What was chasing him? Why was terror sending cold sparks down his veins, locking his head forward toward what he hoped was freedom in fear of what chased behind._

_His tired mind sang sweetly to stop--to rest--but human, carnal urge swept the notion aside._

_That urge cowered against the tendrils licking effortlessly at his heels—at the mirrored footfalls echoing after his own—at the claws grabbing playfully into the drenched fabric of his uniform. He was drowning now, choking on what little air he could take into his lungs as he gasped. Darkness strangled the light as he ran deeper into the braided, inhuman sea._

_And as that last sliver of gray sky disappeared beneath the moving sea of corn…_

He was caught.

…

“Gabriel!”

...

_A scream was dragged from his throat as bodily weight fell against his back, sending two forms toppling to the ground and warm soil below. It was a test of strength as fists and elbows swung at grasping hands, Jack squirming to find purchase and twist his way to freedom._

_But it quickly became apparent how unmatched he was as knees locked around his waist and his wrists were pressed to the ground above his head, fingertips turned toward a cloudless sky. He could do little more than dig his heels into the ground in frustration as he glared daggers at the gap-toothed boy above him._

_“That wasn’t fair, Gab—“_

_“Don’t be such a baby, Jackie,” The boy laughed, brows knitting in impish delight as he looked down at the winded blond. His movements stilled as calm set upon them with only the rustling of the stalks and their own breathing breaking the silence. The tracks his heels had dug into the soil bore no deeper as he settled with his huff, head lulling back as he focused only on catching his breath._

_Gabriel. His best friend. That’s who had been chasing him._

_Not a monster. Family._

_The weight that pressed into his stomach shifted and with a soft /pap/, the boy laid next to him in the dirt, brown eyes turned toward the summer sky. They laid there in comfortable silence, arm to arm under speckled shade as they watched wisps and clouds drift lazily toward the next horizon. The sunlight that managed to pierce through their cornstalk canopy warmed pleasantly against their skin, lulling them toward summer naps and lethargic reveries._

_It was the lacing of fingers with his own that broke that comfortable silence, introducing a new comfort made of soft whispers and playful smiles._

_“Since I caught you I think I deserve a prize.”_

_“You can’t demand a prize for a game with no ru—“_

_“I think you should ask your Ma if I can stay for dinner.”_

_A soft snort of amusement came from the blond as he shifted, leaning his weight softly against Gabriel’s arm as he turned his head to appraise the other._

_“You already do,” The small blond chided, elbow digging into tilled soil as a freckled cheek pressed into a dirty palm.” I think Ma likes you better than me sometimes. She always acts so different when you’re around.”_

_A soft hum of acknowledgement rumbled in the other boy’s throat like a harmless growl as broke his gaze from the sky, turning instead to meet Jack. A dusky nose wrinkled in amusement and dull canines pulled up into a toothy grin. “Yeah, because I’m a lot nicer to her than you. ‘least I remember to wipe off my boots before walking up the patio.”_

_The dark eyed boy climbed to his feet, stifling a laugh at the offended squawk of the other he left in the dirt below. “That was one time!,” The blond exclaimed as he clambered up as well, dirt smudged over his cheek from its minor rest on hand. “You and Ma never let me live it down! At least I didn’t steal my Pa’s tractor for a /joy ride/.”_

_Gabriel turned back to the fuming boy, amusement twinkling in his expression despite his attempts to appear neutral. “You have to admit that was fun. Plus, I never got caught—unlike you.”_

_A comfortable, if not forcibly awkward, silence settled between the two—eyes held unblinkingly in mischievous challenge. “….Bet you can’t stay for dinner if I tell on you,” Came the soft threat of the smirking, speckled blond._

_Dirt shifted beneath the heels of boots, reading for the challenge and the chase that had so recently settled out of their veins. “I’d like to see you try, Morri—Oomfh!”_

_Back met dirt once more as Gabriel’s feet were kicked out from beneath him; confused eyes staring up at a wavering sky. It was the wild, amused giggles of the other boy growing distant that had the child sorting himself once more and pouncing up to chase his prey ; feet pounding into soft, warm, welcoming soil and laughter filling the air once more, echoing for eternity._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to update with a mini-chapter that bridges #2 and #4 in order to let you all know that I'm still here + thinking about this fic a lot. 
> 
> I'm sorry for the well over a year delay and I promise to do my utmost to at least finish this fic (eventually).

**Author's Note:**

> Please be patient with me as I'm garbage.
> 
> My tumblr is penxe.tumblr.com
> 
> EDIT: There will be more than 2 parts. (8/23)


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